ANALYSIS | The UAE star (not named Tadej Pogacar) that Jonas Vingegaard should fear at the 2026 Tour de France

Little by little, the major WorldTour giants are locking in their plans for the 2026 season. Nothing has been officially announced yet, but everything coming out of UAE Team Emirates - XRG suggests a star pairing of Tadej Pogacar and Isaac del Toro for the next Tour de France. And that is something Jonas Vingegaard should be very wary of.

Within UAE there’s no overlooking the fact that Del Toro was one of the best riders in the world in 2025. In fact, thanks to his two national titles, the Mexican is set to begin next season at the very top of the UCI Rankings. But the real point of separation for Isaac del Toro is how complete a rider he already is. Climbing is his biggest strength, yet he is also a superb team rider. Whenever he’s been asked to work as a domestique – despite clearly being strong enough to win races himself – he has fully committed. That was obvious at this year’s Giro d’Italia, where he started as support and still finished second overall.

A rider of Del Toro’s calibre simply cannot continue avoiding the Tour de France. Sitting out this season’s race made sense, as pushing a very young rider too quickly would have been a risk. And that decision paid off handsomely: from July to October, across just four months, he racked up 14 victories.

But the Tour is the stage for the world’s very best, and even if he won’t be the leader, Isaac del Toro can no longer skip the Grande Boucle in 2026. For Pogacar, his inclusion would be the best news possible, because the Mexican would be his strongest support rider on the road. And with the official route confirming a hugely mountainous edition, every shred of climbing help will count.

And they will need it, because everything indicates Team Visma | Lease a Bike will once again build a squad entirely around Vingegaard, with no secondary goals. Their moves in the transfer market underline that strategy: they have secured Davide Piganzoli, one of the most promising climbers in the world, leaving Alberto Contador’s Polti setup in search of a development trajectory similar to Del Toro’s.

So why should Vingegaard be especially concerned about Del Toro’s potential presence? Even if he lines up as a domestique, the double Mexican national champion is widely tipped to become a multi-Grand Tour winner. And not in the distant future — he already has the level to start winning now.

A Pogacar–Del Toro 1–2 in the general classification at the 2026 Tour de France is far from unthinkable. And an outcome like that could seriously unsettle both Vingegaard and Visma.

Ultimately, beyond the likelihood of Pogacar securing a fifth Tour title, the real worry for Visma and Vingegaard is the possibility that Isaac del Toro develops into an even better climber than the Dane. If that happens, UAE’s grip on Grand Tour racing over the coming seasons could become extremely difficult for anyone to break.